


Emotional Visits and Giving Thanks

by AngelSelene



Series: Wreckage [5]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Because all of Roy's coworkers by default have to be original characters, Canadian Thanksgiving, Emotional Rollercoaster, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I made myself cry twice writing this, M/M, One is sad cry; one is happy, Original Character(s), POV Outsider, Post FMA:B, Roy and Ed are science nerds not history nerds, Roy has some Ishval flashbacks, Thanksgiving Dinner, That is going to bite them in the butt a bit, but non-graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27736624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelSelene/pseuds/AngelSelene
Summary: Ed and Roy decide to hit up DC for to play tourists. The visit doesn't go as planned.In the Wreckage Verse, this takes place after the BAU find out about Roy but before they learn about the automail. Based on a mishmash of prompts from my lovely readers.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Series: Wreckage [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924888
Comments: 81
Kudos: 479





	Emotional Visits and Giving Thanks

**Author's Note:**

> I _wanted_ to tease this but I wasn't sure I could get it done in time for Thanksgiving. Indeed, I failed at that. But I didn't miss it by much! This is a giant *thank you* to all of my amazing readers and commentors. Specific prompts I used are included in the End Notes.

It hasn’t been that long since the team met Roy, and they’re being pretty good about it, but Ed still sees the looks they cast his way sometimes, when they think he’s not looking. The last case was… about as good as it gets for the BAU. Kidnapped kids returned safe and sound, if a little traumatized, and that meant that they’re supposed to have a free weekend. 

“Who’s up for homemade pasta at my place tomorrow night?” Rossi asks.

Ed doesn’t have to look to see the silent looks that Morgan and Reid trade, making a decision together. “We’re in,” Morgan says as Ed checks over the end of his report. Roy wouldn’t believe how much better Ed has gotten at completing paperwork—he can’t blow it off based on the fact that there are things that are better not put in official reports and that Roy will know what he was up to anyway with his network. 

“Can I bring Will and the boys?” JJ asks. 

“Of course!”

“I look forward to seeing them!” Prentiss chimes in. “And I have missed your pasta,” she adds. 

Ed signs off on the last of it and closes the file as Rossi asks, “Ed?” He hesitates, then adds, “You can bring Mustang.”

 _He’s trying,_ he hears Roy’s voice tell him, but that deep part of him that can’t deal with petty injustices wants to snarl and snap back, _Not hard enough_. 

“We’re actually going out of town this weekend,” he says, biting back all the snarky, defensive things he wants to say. Al would be proud of his self-control. He doesn’t even sound pissed off. 

If the team were dogs, he would swear that he could see their ears prick up. It takes more will than he wants to admit not to roll his eyes, but he manages not to. _Channel Al,_ he tells himself. 

Well... maybe not _Al_. If he channeled Al, they’d think he was sick. 

“Where are you going?” JJ asks, sounding honestly curious. He’d be more reassured if he hadn’t seen her play nice with dozens of unsubs by now. 

“DC,” he says shortly. 

Prentiss frowns. “You haven’t been to DC?”

Ed stops trying to pretend he doesn’t find this conversation tiresome and sighs. “Only for work. Roy and I haven’t had a chance to go together. Thought we’d hit up some of the museums.” _And the libraries_. Well, Roy is insisting on a couple of museums, which is probably a good call. Ed could get lost for weeks in a good library if not for the need to eat and sleep. 

“Any in particular?” Prentiss asks. “I lived in DC for a while. I can give you some tips.”

“I’ve got a list,” Ed deflects.

“You should make sure that you do the Holocaust Museum,” JJ offers. “It’s… difficult, but I think it’s necessary.” 

Mentally flipping through the museums that were on the “must-see” list, Ed remembers that the Holocaust Memorial Museum was pretty high up on it, so Ed moves it to the top of the list. It has something to do with World War II, if Ed recalls correctly. 

“You should also check out the Spy Museum and the National Law Enforcement Museum,” Prentiss suggests. “The Spy Museum only takes a couple hours to go through, but it’s fun.”

Those get moved up his list too. “Thanks,” he says, tossing his folder into the correct bin. “Anyway, see you Monday,” he tosses over his shoulder as he grabs his bag, waving behind him. He can feel their eyes on him as he leaves, but he doesn’t look back. 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

If there is one thing that neither Ed nor Roy has done very well since coming to this world, it’s studying up on its history. There’s just _so fucking much_ of it. The total area of Amestris is less than that of _Pakistan_ , and its history doesn’t go back _thousands_ of fucking years. Ed’s pretty sure that the maps of the entire known world in Amestris could fit into Europe and have some leftover space, and it’s not exactly a point of pride, but Amestis was a lot less fucking diverse. Ed could spend _lifetimes_ studying all this shit and never learn it all. So he and Roy tried to take some more esoteric but basic classes where they wouldn’t look like idiots for not having the foundational knowledge that _everyone_ seemed to have about Western Civilization due to the education system. 

Fortunately, neither of them signed up for history their first years, so by the time they had to, Ed had enough acquaintances on campus that Ed was able to glean what areas of history _no one_ seemed to have a good foundation in, and he ended up in Eastern-based histories, with an East Asian Civ to 1800 class, and History of Japan that covered up to about the Meiji Revolution. At least the tech of the 1800s was a lot closer to the tech Ed knew from their world.

Ed wished he knew more about Xingese history, because he thought it had some similarities with China, but it was never quite right with his experience. The history of Japan had been a slogfest of remembering round after round of warring clans with a dry as dirt professor who made the topic even _less_ engaging than it was on its surface. Roy’s college didn’t offer the variety that Ed’s did, and got stuck with US history through the Civil War and antebellum. But it meant that neither of them had ever really gotten a rundown on the World Wars. Sure, they’d brushed up against them—Ed had even dealt with white supremacists and Neo-Nazis on occasion, but the sheer scope of a _world war_ made his fucking head hurt, and Roy had even less desire to study up on atrocities. It didn’t matter what world it was, it appeared people were xenophobic and greedy and would use any excuse to kill one another—but they especially liked a religious one. 

Then again, they had a psycho dictator who was literally willing to sacrifice the _entire population_ to make himself a god and damn near succeeded, so… perspective, right? 

The religious intolerance and preachiness of this world is something Ed just can’t get over. He can barely tell a Christian from a Jew—they all looked the fucking same to him, except the Christians liked their creepy dead guy on a cross and Jews were bigger fans of the Elemental Balance, which they called the Star of David. Who the fuck _was_ David? And why is the Elemental Balance his star? He can only figure out the Muslims because they did the head-covering thing. Or was that the Jews? 

If the history of this world gave Ed a headache, its religions elevate it to a migraine, so he does his best to just… stay away from it. Making sense of all that religious symbology and shit is what Reid is for. Though there had been the one memorable time when Ed’s utter lack of religion had provoked an unsub into a spontaneous confession in his outrage. 

So when JJ said they should do the Holocaust Museum, Ed hadn’t really thought much of it. Sure, why not? If it sucked, they could leave, and it was free anyway. He knew she said it could be _difficult_ , but he just… kind of brushed over it. 

He really, really should have listened. Ed isn’t an idiot; he’s picked up that there was a genocide of some sort in one of the world wars—or was it both?—but he hadn’t been even a little bit prepared for the museum. He isn’t prepared to walk through a child’s home with his diary entries, isn’t prepared for the skies above the concentration camps, the mound of _shoes_ that was all that remained of people. Ed knew there was some sort of genocide, but people didn’t like _talking_ about this shit. No one casually mentions _six million people were murdered in five years_. 

If it is gut-wrenching for Ed, it is downright traumatic for Roy. The shoes are the final straw. 

Ed has to all but drag him out of the museum, out into the open, clean air. It was October and cool and crisp, but not cold yet. Winter was slow in coming this year, though the leaves were turning and at a glance could be mistaken for fire. 

Shoving Roy down onto a bench, Ed makes him bend and put his head between his knees. “Stubborn bastard,” he says, heart aching for Roy. Because seeing it in stark black-and-white photographs makes Ed understand. Hitler may have been more insane than Bradley, and he was responsible for the deaths of six million people because of his own hate. 

It’s this world’s Ishval. It’s very arguably worse, but then, Hitler hadn’t had State Alchemists as living weapons. If he had, Ed wonders if the camps would have been necessary. If he would have bothered with the pretense, or if he would have just sent in his human weapons and slaughtered innocent people wholesale. 

He knows that Roy is wondering the same thing. 

“I’m so sorry,” Ed says, not words he says often or easily, but in this case, the idea for this one came from him. 

“No,” Roy says, voice rough with an emotion that Ed can’t name. “It’s… I could have researched it better too. Ms. Jareau recommended it, and you trusted her recommendation.”

“I could have researched it better too,” Ed says, crouching down so he can look Roy in the eyes. He’s pale, looks like he’s seen a ghost, and Ed just _knows_ there are going to be a lot of sleepless nights and Ishval flashbacks generated from this. They should have left when Ed realized how bad the _sanitized, for-kids_ exhibit was. 

Roy drags his hands over his face, and Ed can see him holding his breath for a count of three then breathing out slowly. Neither of them dares risk therapy, though they’ve slowly come around to considering its value, but Ed recognizes the signs of managing a panic attack or flashback. 

“I’m right here,” Ed says, pulling Roy’s hands away so all he can see is Ed’s face instead of the horrors in his own mind. “Focus on me, okay?” He takes Roy’s hands into his own. “We’re right here. I am right here,” he repeats. He will repeat it as long as Roy needs, and as often. 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Mercedes Adelman’s horde is subdued as they leave the Holocaust Museum. They always are, her husband and her mother-in-law most of all. Shoshanna Adelman, her mother-in-law, had been born to Holocaust survivors, so they make this trip every year. 

“Mom,” her eldest daughter, Ariella, says, pointing. “Is that Mr. Mustang?” 

Mercedes puts Ariella’s arm down with an automatic, “You know better than to point,” but she follows the direction Ariella had been pointing in. Sure enough, Roy is sitting on a bench looking quite a bit worse for the wear. A man is crouched in front of him—at least, Mercedes is pretty sure it’s a man, judging by the breadth of his shoulders and the way he’s crouched, though that long golden hair does give her pause. 

“Mr. Mustang?” Hannah, her niece who has just turned sixteen and thinks she knows _everything_ , asks. “Like the _car_?”

“It _is_ Mr. Mustang!” George blurts, then takes off running for him, yelling, “Mr. Mustang!” Sure enough, his head comes up, and the man in front of him moves to block him, only to get a full-speed six-year-old colliding with him. He stands his ground admirably, picking up George as if he weighs nothing, which is _not_ the case these days, and holding him out like he’s some strange doll. 

“Do you know this thing?” the blond man asks as Mercedes makes her way over to them. She’d run, but it _is_ Roy. 

“You remember me, Mr. Mustang, right? I’m George!”

Roy looks past him as she gets there and says, “Of course I remember you,” with a smile on his face. 

“Are you sure?” the blond man asks with exaggerated skepticism, twisting his arms until George is hanging upside down, but he’s also giggling in delight.

“Put me down!” George says between laughs. “I don’t know you!”

The man obviously tickles him, but sets him down, saying, “Well, _you’re_ the one who ran into me.”

Roy stands and scoops up George with easy strength, which makes him giggle again. “Good afternoon, Mercedes,” he greets her with a shadow of his usual charm. “You seem to have misplaced something.” 

“George! What have I told you about running away from us?” she says, exasperated. 

He pouts, still comfortably perched on Roy’s hip. “But I know Mr. Mustang!” he protests. 

“Yes, but you don’t know, uh…” She turns to face the blond man. Up close, he’s much younger than she thought he was. He’s maybe all of twenty-five, if she’s being generous. 

“Ed,” the man introduces himself. “Elric,” he adds almost as an afterthought, but he doesn’t reach out to shake her hand. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” Levi greets, putting his hand out warmly for a shake. Roy takes it easily, though he still seems a little pale around the edges. Ed is watching him and them carefully. Something about his posture is alert, upright, _aware_. It reminds her of her brother after his deployment. Levi turns to Ed. “Levi Adelman, and my wife, Mercedes. You said you were Ed?” he asks, putting his hand out to Ed as well. 

“I don’t shake,” he replies, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Nothing personal.” The coat is a black leather duster that his hair almost glows against. He looks like a very chic goth, with the heavy boots, tight black jeans, and the black buttondown. 

Levi drops his hand, glances a little uncertainly at Mercedes, but carries on admirably. “You’re here with Roy then?” he asks. 

Roy and Ed trade a glance, a quick, silent conversation in raised eyebrows, looks, and slight tilts of heads. It’s enough that when Roy says, “Yes, we’re here together,” she hears the meaning in what he says. 

Ariella, who has had a little bit of a crush on Roy since she first laid eyes on him, is of course the one to blurt, “Is he your boyfriend?” 

There’s a bare hesitation, then Roy nods. “Yes, he is.”

Ed rolls his eyes, longsuffering. “I hate that fu—freaking word. Makes us sound like we’re teenagers.”

Roy shrugs. “It’s not incorrect.”

“Fu...reacking language just sucks at—er, stinks at labeling it,” he says, obviously trying to curb his language and struggling. 

“As if any language could label you,” Roy says in his sweetest, most saccharine tone. It’s one that will usually have any single woman in the vicinity—and a not inconsiderable number of the _not_ single women—all but simpering. Ed, it appears, is not so easily moved.

“I think ‘hot mess’ comes pretty close,” he replies without missing a beat, even though the corner of his mouth ticks up, unable to resist a tiny grin.

Roy’s eyes soften in a way she’s never seen before, and he says, “You are singular.” The warmth in his voice this time is thick and sincere, and Levi may be the love of Mercedes’s life, but if Roy talked to _her_ like that, she may have to think _real hard_ about the decisions she’s made up to that point. 

“So are you two going to see the Museum?” Levi asks.

Shadows pass behind Roy’s dark eyes, and Ed frowns. 

“We already went through,” Ed says. Something in his voice does not invite further discussion. 

“What did you think?” Hannah asks. Mercedes catches the look she gives Ed and sighs internally. Mercedes is going to have to have another talk with her mother. Not that Ed isn’t an attractive young man—he is—but he’s too old for Hannah to be eyeing that way, especially since he’s already confirmed he’s in a relationship… _with a man_. “Our family comes here every year, and it’s… old,” she says in a tone that says she’s too cool for it. 

If she was hoping to impress Ed, she’s clearly done just the opposite. “It’s a memorial,” he says, voice going low, meeting her eyes with a startling intensity. “Meant to honor the victims and survivors both, be a reminder to future generations not to ever let something like that happen again. I think it’s beautiful and terrible and that’s exactly what it should be. Why do you come here every year?” 

“We come before we celebrate Thanksgiving,” Levi says, putting his hand on Hannah’s shoulder and pulling her back to his side, almost as if he can shield her from the weight of Ed’s gaze. “My, uh, my mother’s parents were survivors. My mom and Hannah’s father are still inside, paying their respects. We go before Thanksgiving as a reminder of all we have to be thankful for before we go to my brother—Aaron’s—house for dinner.”

Ed frowns and looks at Roy. “Isn’t Thanksgiving in November?”

“Well, yes, but Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated in October,” Levi says. “We celebrate both. Canadian Thanksgiving with my family, American Thanksgiving with Mercedes’s. Aaron and I both live in the US now, but we grew up in Canada.”

This time Roy is frowning. “You didn’t mention you were celebrating a holiday this weekend,” he says to Mercedes, not accusing, just confused. 

“Oh, this one is easy on me,” she tells him, smiling. “Levi’s side of the family takes care of all the cooking, and while they’ll let the kids help, I’m told firmly I’m not to since I do most of the cooking when we do American Thanksgiving with my side of the of the family in November.”

It hasn’t escaped her notice that Roy is still holding George, who has to be getting heavy, but it seems like he’s finding it… grounding. His color is looking much better, and he seems more like the man she’s used to than he had when she first saw him. 

“You teach math, right?” Ed asks her. “Roy’s mentioned you.”

“Hey, you have like, really long hair,” Maya pipes up from behind her. 

Ed pulls his braid over his shoulder and looks at it for a moment, shooting a quick, sly glance at Roy, then turns his attention to Maya, crouching down to be on her eight-year-old eye level. “I sure do. Mostly ‘cause I’m lazy,” he says with a smile. He pulls on one of Maya’s braided pigtails. “Yours is pretty long too.” 

She gives him a bright smile, then turns to Felix. “See?” she says. “Boys can have long hair too.”

Felix ran his hand through his long bangs. He’d been letting it get long, but keeps stopping short of letting it get as long as he really wants it to get. He looks at Ed and asks, “What do you do? Are you like a… _model_ or something?” Felix curled his lip to indicate exactly what he thought about it. 

“Me?” Ed asks with a disbelieving snort. “I think you mean Mr. Ego back there. Nah, I do something a little cooler.” He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a wallet. “I work for the FBI,” he says, opening it. 

“Is this real?” Felix asks as his twin shoves closer. 

“That’s so cool!” Jamie says, reaching for the badge. Ed pulls it out of the way of Jamie to let Felix have it.

Mercedes looks up at Roy, and her question must be obvious because he smiles and nods. 

“You… seem a little young,” Levi says, not quite a question. 

“Ed was recruited straight out of college,” Roy volunteers. 

“Do you catch bad guys?” Felix asks, giving Ed his badge back. 

“Yes, I do, actually.”

“Really?” Hannah asks, trying to sound disbelieving, but she looks a little hopeful. 

Ed tucks his badge away and stands back up. “Yeah. I work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. It means it’s my job to find and stop bad guys.”

Mercedes doesn’t know what the look on her face is, but it prompts Roy to say, “Yes, he’s a genius.” 

“That’s so _cool_!” Jamie repeats. 

Felix turns to her. “Mom, can Ed come to Thanksgiving dinner with us?” he asks. 

Alarm crosses both Ed and Roy’s faces as Ed raises his hands defensively. 

“I didn’t—”

“We couldn’t intrude,” Roy says smoothly, stepping up to Ed’s side, and Mercedes doesn’t miss the look of relief on Ed’s face. 

But there’s also something in Roy’s she hasn’t seen. She never, in a thousand years, would have guessed that Roy would be involved with someone so young, and she’s reluctant to just let him walk away when the opportunity to interrogate him further might be an option.

“We would have to ask your uncle,” she says, placating. 

“Ask me what?” Aaron asks, startling her.

“Uncle Aaron, can Ed—”

“And Mr. Mustang,” Mercedes adds. 

Felix adds him as if she hadn’t said anything. “And Mr. Mustang come to Thanksgiving with us? Mr. Mustang works with Mom.”

“Felix, Mr. Mustang and Mr. Elric—” Levi starts.

“Ed,” Ed corrects.

“Mr. Mustang and Ed might have other plans—”

“Well, we have more than enough to feed a couple extra mouths,” Aaron says helpfully. 

“We couldn’t—” Roy starts to warn them off again.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Did you have other plans?” Mercedes asks. “We’re not having dinner until about four, so you should have plenty of time to—”

“They should come home with us _now_!” George protests, clinging tightly to Roy. 

“George, really,” Mercedes admonishes before focusing on Roy again. “Really, it’s no trouble at all. Didn’t you say last year that you don’t really do Thanksgiving?”

“Don’t do Thanksgiving?” Shoshanna demands from where she’s leaning on Aaron’s arm, sounding aghast. She’s a small woman who seems to shrink further every year, but she has an iron will and is the unquestioned matriarch of the family. Mercedes had been falling in love with Levi all those years ago, but meeting his mother had in some ways, sealed the deal for her. 

“I’m afraid Ed and I don’t really have any family that are able to celebrate with,” Roy says. Mercedes had tried to invite him last year when she heard he hadn’t had any plans, but he had managed to dodge the invitation. If he was with Ed last year, the reason for his evasiveness is suddenly obvious. He’s not going to find Shoshanna so easy to evade though.

“We can’t have that,” Shoshanna says. “Unless you boys have other plans, I _insist_. After all, how often do you get a chance to do a Canadian Thanksgiving down here?” 

Roy and Ed exchange a look that says they don’t know how to get out of this with grace, which is ideal. 

“We came in two cars,” Levi starts.

“Mom! Can I ride with Mr. Mustang and Ed?” Felix asks.

“Me too!” Jamie says.

“Me three!” George announces.

“I could—”

“Hey!” Mercedes raises her voice just enough to get the kids to pipe down. “George, you can’t go with Roy and Ed because they don’t have a car seat for you—”

“But it’s not _far_ …”

“Not up for debate,” she cuts him off, then smiles at Roy. “Obviously we can take them all back with us, but Ariella is very good with directions, and if you’re willing to take Felix and Jamie, they’d be quite delighted. I promise I won’t put either of you to work.”

She sees the moment when Roy’s shoulders slump, just a little bit. Ed must too because he says, “We’re sorry for the imposition.”

“Imposition?” Shoshanna asks. “No one should be alone on Thanksgiving, even if it’s a little early for you Americans. Really, we have more than enough. A few extra mouths will be welcome.”

Mercedes thinks that she sees Roy’s eyebrow twitch, but he says, “In that case, how can we refuse?”

Shoshanna nods as if satisfied. Mercedes still kind of wants to be Shoshanna when she grows up. 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Maya and George are less than pleased that they have to ride with their parents, but a judicious application of technology silences them for the ride back to Aaron’s house. 

“Well, this is surprising,” Levi comments to her quietly enough not to carry back to the distracted kids. 

Mercedes hums in agreement. “I had wondered though,” she admits. 

“Wondered?”

“If Roy had someone. He never talks about his family or history. Never talks about what he does outside of school, but he doesn’t seem lonely most of the time.”

“Ed is… quite young, I think,” Levi says cautiously. 

She hums in agreement again. “Yes, but he’s also with the FBI. I think I’ll reserve judgment until we can see them together a little bit more. Certainly the age gap is… considerable, but I’ve never seen Roy give so much as a glance at a student, and there are more than a few students who give him an excuse to look.”

“Well, even I can see Ed is quite striking.”

“Perhaps,” Mercedes says, thinking about Ed’s blatant dismissal of his own appeal. 

“My mother has successfully bullied them into coming, so I guess you’ll get your chance to observe to your heart’s content,” Levi teases. 

Mercedes sniffs delicately. “Your mother never bullies anyone into anything. She is just very good at supporting her arguments and getting her point across.”

Levi chuckles, reaching out to take her hand. “I love that you love my mother, but just because she’s convincing them to do what she thinks is best for them doesn’t mean she’s not bullying them.”

“Sometimes people need a little push.”

Pulling her hand over to lay a soft kiss on her knuckles, Levi says, “Yes, dear,” with a laugh in his voice.

She knows he thinks he’s humoring her. She smiles and simply says, “You’ll see.”

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Arriving back at Aaron’s house includes the usual amount of chaos. In addition to her own five children and Hannah, there are Levi’s sisters, their partners, and their kids, some of whom were too young for the museum—it had been George’s first trip—and many of whom went earlier in the day. Who got to go with Shoshanna was rotated yearly to make sure everyone got some personal time with her. It means that showing up with two new—and attractive—faces causes a lot of ruckus and both Roy and Ed look a little bit overwhelmed. 

It doesn’t last for long before George manages to peel off Ed and get him to play with the younger kids after a round of introductions. Mercedes hustles Roy out onto the back porch so they can ostensibly “oversee” the kids as they’re running around. Roy doesn’t look pleased to be so neatly cornered, but it does allow him to also keep Ed in his sight, which Mercedes thought he might appreciate. 

“Sorry,” Mercedes says. “I forget that it can be a lot.”

Roy glances at her from where he’s sat with dignity in the rocker next to her own, but after a moment, he smiles. “We’re just… a little out of practice, I think,” he says, turning back to the kids, eyes following Ed as he runs around with them.

“He’s really good with them,” Mercedes comments. 

There’s something sad about the expression on Roy’s face when he says, “He always has been.”

Mercedes doesn’t really want to ask, but she feels like she kind of has to. They work with teenagers, and though she’s never seen Roy do anything that would give her cause for concern, it’s hard not to wonder looking at Ed. “How old _is_ Ed?” she asks. 

“Twenty-four,” Roy says easily. “And longer than you would like is the answer of ‘how long we’ve been together.’” 

She lets that answer hang there for a minute before pointing out, “You could have just lied to me. All you had to say was he was ‘twenty’ or ‘twenty-two’ or…”

Roy doesn’t look at her, instead watching Ed with the kids as they run and tumble and yell and generally treat him like some cool human jungle gym. When he speaks, it almost startles her. “It’s one thing to pretend he doesn’t exist, to just never mention him. But lying about us once people know?” He shakes his head. “I could, but Ed brandishes his heart like armor. My lies would be obvious in the face of the truth that he radiates.” 

Ed lifts George up with one hand, holding him up like he’s flying while his other hand reaches out to snag Jamie around the waist and carry him like he’s a barrel under his arm. 

“Mommy! Look at me!” George yells, holding his arms out like Superman.

“Look at you fly!” she yells back just before he falls. Ed easily controls the fall and puts him down like it was planned. “He’s strong,” she notes, knowing that both of those kids are nothing but rock-solid muscle, so while they may be compact, they aren’t light. 

“You have no idea,” Roy says, and she’s sure he isn’t just talking about physical strength. She’s surprised when Roy volunteers, “He didn’t get much of a childhood, much of a chance to be a kid. I look at the teenagers in our classes, and I still can’t reconcile them with Ed at their ages. Imagining Ed caught up in the insecurities and indecisiveness of the teens caught between adults and children. We don’t think about it much, but the concept of a teenager is a modern one. It’s a luxury garnered by stability, allowing them more time to learn and grow and figure out who they are and who they are going to be. Not so long ago, children were familial resources, extra hands to help the family, given adult responsibilities and told to make adult decisions.”

“And the kids who don’t have stable homes, they don’t get to be kids,” she agrees. They teach at a private, upper-income school. While they do see kids who are abused and neglected on occasion, they don’t get a lot of the kids who don’t have stable roofs over their heads or who have to work to just help put food on the table or who rely on their free meals at school. 

“No,” he says, solemn, “they do not.”

“Did you get to be a teenager?” she asks, looking at him. 

He smirks and tears his eyes away from Ed to meet her gaze. “Of course I did. I was a naive idealist who had to learn how harsh the real world can be the hard way. Ed has always known. I sometimes wonder if that’s a peril of genius, being able to see through the veils we cover children’s eyes with.”

Ed squawks as he’s buried beneath a pile of kids, but he’s growling and has them all laughing in short order, and when she looks, there’s that softness in Roy’s eyes again. 

“Have you considered it?” she asks.

“Hmm?” 

“Getting married? It would probably make your relationship look a bit less creepy.”

He sucks in a sharp breath as if the question is physically painful. “I would marry Ed in a heartbeat, consequences be damned.”

“But he doesn’t want to?”

He shakes his head. “Ed can be an extreme empiricist. He doesn’t believe that a piece of paper changes the value of the promises we’ve made to one another. It doesn’t stop people from leaving.”

“I’m sorry,” she says.

“For what?” 

“That he doesn’t understand what it would mean to you.”

Roy sighs. “We’ve… made other promises. I would just like to have the legal coverage. His job is dangerous, and although we’re listed as next-of-kin for one another, if anything ever happened to one of us, things would be much easier if we were married.”

She gives him a small smile. “And you’d really like that piece of paper.”

He shrugs. “Even if his father hadn’t left, Ed has seen a lot of horrible marriages in his line of work. He can be forgiven for thinking that the formality is meaningless.”

“He said he’s with the… Behavioral Analysis Unit? What is that, exactly?”

“Profiler,” Roy says. “He’s a profiler. His team deals with serial criminals mostly, but also kidnappers, terrorists.”

Mercedes is a little taken aback. “And he was recruited straight out of college?” Roy nods. “And you were okay with that?”

It makes Roy smile and he turns back to her. “That is getting to be a common misconception.”

“What is?”

“Assuming that I have any control over what Ed does.”

“Stubborn?”

“I have more faith in my ability to shout down a storm than to stand between Ed and something he wants, and not just because I’m inclined to give Ed what he wants.” 

Something about his tone makes something click in Mercedes’s mind. “He pursued you, didn’t he?”

Roy sighs. “It’s… more complicated than that, but yes, he made the first move.”

It’s Mercedes’s turn to sigh as she turns the information over in her head and Roy turns back to watching Ed. It could be unnerving or creepy, how focused he is on Ed, but the soft smile, the gentleness in his eyes speak of a deep bond that reminds her of the way she sometimes catches Levi watching her, the way she knows she watches her kids sometimes. It’s just love. It’s a simple appreciation for having this person in your life, for quiet gratitude, moments of stopping to smell the roses. 

As if feeling the weight of her eyes, Ed looks up at them. He meets her gaze for a moment, and even with half a yard between them, there’s something fierce and unyielding and protective in them. Then his eyes move. Roy gives him a little wave, and Ed rolls his eyes, longsuffering, but he’s smiling too, and his eyes linger until he’s fully turned his attention back to the kids. 

A little knot of concern that has been tight in her chest, gives. Ed is young, yes, but not _young_. Maybe her own parents’ ten-year age difference made her more open to it, but it’s clear that Roy has eyes only for Ed, and Ed is no shrinking violet. 

“I won’t say anything at school,” she says. “If you don’t want me to. But if you ever want to talk about him, I’ll be happy to listen.”

Roy’s head snaps to look at her, and the surprise is so plain on his face, she almost feels bad for it. “Thank you,” he says, and his voice is thick with the weight of his sincerity. 

“I wouldn’t recommend making it public knowledge. You work with teenagers. People are going to look at you two and just assume the worst, but I won’t be one of them,” she assures. 

He shakes his head, as if bemused. “I have been remiss in recognizing a better friend than I deserve.”

She laughs. “God forbid we ever get what we deserve. And you better believe I’m a better friend than you deserve—there’s a running bet at work as to whether you’re gay, taken, or ace. I said gay and taken. That pot should be _mine_.”

A subtle tension has gone out of his frame, and he rests his elbow on one of the arms of the rocker, propping his chin in his hand, and his gives her probably the most sincere smile she’s been graced with. It _really_ is best that he’s taken or she might have to have some very awkward conversations with Levi about exercising a free pass. “Taken, yes, but there is only one person for me.”

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

“Aunt Rachel and Aunt Evvie are here!” one of the oldest kids sticks her head out to shout. 

“Oh, gracious, Lis. We’re coming out. It’s not too cold, and the baby could use the fresh air,” a woman who is clearly related to Levi says, pushing past the girl, arms full of a fussy-seeming toddler. “Oh, hello,” she says, seeing Roy, an obvious question on her slightly frazzled features.

“Roy Mustang,” he introduces. 

“Rachel,” she returns, still a little puzzled.

“He works with me,” Mercedes says, getting up and going to her. “We ran into him and his partner at the museum and invited them for Thanksgiving,” she says. They lean toward one another giving one another a quick side hug in deference to the clearly unhappy child. 

Several of the kids, including George, run up to see them. Roy isn’t surprised. He’s met Mercedes’s kids on several occasions and George’s attraction to anything cute and lonely is nearly Alphonse-like. He’s not at all surprised the child took straight to Ed or that he wants to see the baby.

“Is that the new baby?” he asks, bright-eyed and flushed from roughhousing with Ed and the others. 

“Yeah, she sure is. She did _not_ like the drive, though. Oh my goodness, I did not know a five-hour drive could end up being almost eight just because this one needed so many stops.”

“Is she teething, maybe?” Mercedes asks.

“We think so. She is one unhappy child right now, though,” Rachel admits, then nuzzles one slightly red baby cheek as she continues to try and bounce the fussing baby. “I know, sweetie.”

“Can I hold her?” Felix asks.

“Oh, kiddo, maybe later? If we can get her calmed down.”

Ed has followed them up, looking a little concerned, and Roy will never not enjoy watching the moment that Ed first catches someone’s eye. The pause, the surprise, way the eyes travel—Roy would say it happens a solid fifty percent of the time, and that’s probably being conservative. “Hi. I’m Rachel.” 

Ed keeps the kids between them enough that reaching to shake would be awkward, but he smiles and says, “Ed. I’m attached to that one,” he says, pointing at Roy. 

“Ah,” she replies, and to her credit, while her eyes move curiously between them, there’s no judgment in them. “Nice to meet you. This, very unhappy child is Nina.”

The easy air that had been around them shatters as Ed looks like he’s just been sucker-punched. “Nina?” he asks, voice faint. 

Rachel bounces her as she begins to cry in earnest, attention torn between Ed, who has gone white, and her crying baby. 

“Yeah?” she asks, obviously confused. Roy moves to his side, but Ed steps forward, hands held out cautiously. 

“Can… can I?” he asks, stumbling over the words. “I… please?”

Roy can see the hesitation on Rachel’s face so he says, “Ed’s got a knack with kids,” he assures.

“I won’t go anywhere, I swear. Can I just…?”

Rachel is obviously reluctant, but Nina is getting more upset, not less, and Roy’s been around enough upset children to know that parents are willing to try almost anything at this stage. She shifts Nina enough that Ed can take her. He accepts her with care, cradling her in his left arm, protecting her from his automail without thought. She stops crying, but judging by her face, she could burst into tears again any second, but it seems Ed’s braid has caught her attention. 

Ed sees it too and holds his braid out to her. “You like that?” he asks, teasing her with the end, tickling her gently. 

“I found Alexander!” a woman with long braids announces as she throws open the door. “Oh,” she says, let down when she realizes that there’s no screaming child. 

“Alexander?” Ed asks, starting to look disconcertingly white considering he’s holding a child. Roy gets to his side, offering silent support, and Ed steadies. 

“Uh, yeah,” the woman says, holding up a stuffed puppy. “It’s her favorite toy. I was afraid we’d lost it at a rest stop, but it just got buried under one of the seats. I’m Evvie, Rachel’s wife.”

“Roy,” Roy introduces himself since Ed doesn’t seem to quite be together enough. “I work with Mercedes. Ed is my partner.” It feels odd to say it so plainly. They haven’t been _hiding_ it exactly, but… well, maybe they have. It’s oddly freeing to just be able to _admit_ it. 

“Can I?” Ed asks, holding his hand out for the toy, having dropped his braid. 

“Sure?” Evvie says, handing him the dog. 

Ed gives it to Nina, and she grabs it, immediately sticking the nose in her mouth to gnaw on, but she also settles. Ed is an absolute radiator, so Roy is sure the baby is enjoying the warmth against the cool air. 

“Wow, look at that. Nina doesn’t usually like anyone,” Evvie comments, but she seems more relieved. 

“I wanna see!” George says. 

“Ed, why don’t you sit?” Mercedes offers. 

“Yeah, okay,” Ed says, his eyes glued to Nina’s tiny features. Roy knows what he’s seeing, knows _who_ he is looking for in those features. Mercedes manages the kids, letting them line up one-by-one to see the baby, who most of them have obviously not had a chance to meet, and then shoos them off to play again. Roy leans against the railing across from the rocker, and Rachel and Evvie join him as Mercedes sits again.

Ed must feel their eyes on him because he suddenly looks up, coming out of his daze much like he does when he coming out of a book. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m a total freak. I just…” He takes a deep breath and forces himself to continue. “I knew a little girl, named Nina.” She’s drifting off as he rocks, her stuffed toy snuggled in close. Ed looks back down at her. “Her father was a really, really bad man, and we didn’t realize how bad he was until it was too late.” 

Rachel and Evvie look horrified, so Roy gives them a little context. “Ed works at the FBI. His team deals with some of the worst of the worst,” he explains. Guilt rears its ugly head when Roy thinks about the fact that the assignments Roy gave Ed so easily sound like they belong in the BAU’s casefiles, only they’re worse because Ed was dealing with alchemists. 

The expressions are still horrified, but there’s understanding there now too. Ed is picking at Nina’s clothing and blanket, tugging them, making tiny adjustments, tracing the hood around her face, not quite touching her with his automail hand, and watching him do it makes Roy’s heart hurt. His heart twists, but he has to say it. “You know she’s not—”

“I know,” Ed interrupts soft and sad, but he doesn’t look away from her. “I know. Just… let me…”

He trails off, but Roy doesn’t need to hear the words. _Let me pretend. Let me lie to myself, just for a little bit, that this is Nina, and that she’s safe and healthy and whole. Let me believe, for just a few minutes, that this is Nina and I didn’t fail her._

Rachel must hear what Ed didn’t say too, because she leans heavily into Evvie’s side, and Evvie lets her cuddle close. Roy thinks he hears a sniffle, but he’s not sure from whom, and he’s not going to look. There’s no shame in being moved by this. When Ed leans down and breathes in the clean baby scent of her, Roy has to close his own eyes against tears. 

The solemn tableau is broken by the same young lady as before coming out. “Dinner’s nearly ready. Oma said to make the kids come in and get cleaned up,” she says. 

Ed moves to stand but Evvie puts a hand on his shoulder. “She’s sleeping. She hasn’t slept for more than fifteen minutes straight the whole way here. We’ll come get you when everything’s really ready,” she says. 

The raw gratitude on Ed’s face is hard to take, so Roy helps them herd the kids inside and make sure they all get cleaned up. Once Roy checks George’s hands and confirms he’s clean, he’s left with Mercedes in odd solitude. 

“Have you thought about kids with him?” she asks. 

The question honestly blindsides Roy so much that he snaps, “When we accepted your invitation, I didn’t realize we were also walking into an interrogation.” 

Mercedes winces and he feels a little bit bad about it, but not as bad as he probably should. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I just… I know he’s young, but you’re not anymore, and not getting any younger. And he’s so _good_ with kids, and you didn’t see your face when you looked at him holding Nina,” she babbles out in a rush. 

Roy takes a deep breath, feeling a little worse for snapping, but not bad enough to apologize for it. “We haven’t talked about it,” he admits with a clipped tone that should tell her not to interrupt and not to ask any more questions. Roy _has_ thought about it, but they’d never be able to adopt with their backgrounds and Ed’s crazy schedule. He’s also pretty sure that deciding to settle down and raise kids would be tantamount to admitting that they will never get home, and even after so long, he doesn’t think either of them has truly given up that hope. 

“You should,” she says, almost like an apology, but not quite. “I think he’d make a great father.” She pauses in the doorway as she leaves, “I think you would too.” 

She’s gone before Roy can lash back, which is almost certainly intentional but no less infuriating for it. It does give Roy a few minutes to gather himself at least. 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

There are three separate tables, at least thirty people in the house, and Roy and Ed are given seats in a place of honor just across from Shoshanna. Ed continues holding Nina, and whenever someone starts to suggest that he put her down, Evvie or Rachel shushes them with gentle admonishments not to wake Nina. Evvie sits next to Ed at the table, Mercedes takes Roy’s other side, while Levi and Rachel sit on either side of their mother, across from their respective partners. 

The spread is magnificent—truly as generous as buffets Roy’s been to at the Fuhrer's banquets—looking like something out of a magazine or movie. Shoshanna—the family matriarch, stands when everyone else is seated. She barely looks taller standing than she had seated, but she reminds Roy of the same sense of control that Pinako, Izumi, and Olivier all possess. 

“Thanksgiving is always meant to be a time of sharing, of being together, of appreciating all that we have. This year, in particular, has been special, since I have been able to have all six of my beautiful children together, in one place for the first time in four years. Not only are all my children, but also all my grandchildren.” Her eyes grew misty for a moment as she said, “I so wish your father could be here with us, but I know he is with us in spirit.” She put her hand over her heart, and bowed her head for a moment. “So this year, I feel I have more to be grateful for than ever. For the health and happiness of my children, and the wonderful partners who they have brought into this family, and for all of my... “ She pauses as if to catch her breath. “All of my _beautiful_ grandchildren. And also to new friends.” She looks at Roy and Ed, the open welcome in her eyes, the honest acceptance a balm after being the target of so much suspicion with Ed’s team. She raises her glass, and all of the adults do as well. “To health. To happiness. To healing. I am so grateful for you all.” She visibly has to sniff back her emotion as she makes the motion to toast to an invisible glass. 

_Cheers_ and _l'chaim_ chorus around all of the tables, the soft clinking of glasses an oddly musical counterpoint to the toasts. It starts what appears to be a lightning round of things to toast to, going around the table so quickly, Roy can’t help but spit out the first thing that comes to mind when it gets to him. 

“To friends in unexpected places,” he says, raising his glass. 

Ed meets his eyes and says, “To relentless hope.”

Many of the kids’ get sillier, but not all of them, though the ones that are provide a welcome levity until it circles back around to Rachel, who is looking rather misty-eyed herself when she stands and holds up her glass. 

“To love,” she says. “In all its forms. Familial, platonic, romantic, parental. To love.”

“To love!” spontaneously choruses back at her.

“Let’s all dig in, eh? This food isn’t going to eat itself!” she adds. If her voice is a little tight and she has to dab at her eyes, well, she’s not the only one. 

**Author's Note:**

> Included Prompts (note: this does not mean I will not revisit these in future sidefics. Not sure this would qualify for RoyEd week, so I might need to revisit):  
> \--Ed meeting some of Roy's coworkers  
> \--Ed playing with kids/being an adult figure  
> \--Roy and Ed celebrating a holiday (adjacent to them finding out about one)  
> \--Ed and Roy go on a date  
> \--A moment of "peace" with themselves or others
> 
> Little Notes:  
> \--Google was kind enough to give me the size of Amestris, and it's quite a bit smaller than Pakistan (723,000 square km to Pakistan's 770), but the next closest was a lot smaller.  
> \--Yes, that History of Japan up to 1800 class is a slogfest. Most of Japan's history up to the Tokugawa Shogunate is basically a really long series of civil wars. A good history teacher can make anything interesting, but mine was not one of them (and I like history!)  
> \--I have never been to the Holocaust Museum ('cause I've never been to DC), so I tried to read up on the exhibits and peoples' responses. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments and enthusiasm. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope everyone had a bountiful and safe holiday!!  
> ❤🧡💛💚💙💜❤


End file.
